MYOB Facebook

I'm a Facebook (FB) user, and have found it's a terrific way to keep in touch with friends and family.   Many people I worked with before retirement are on FB and since I no longer see them in person, it's nice to hear what they're up to these days.   For family and extended family, it's an easy way to keep in touch, share photos and videos, and see what's going on.

A lot of people also use a variety of FB apps, like games, quizzes, birthday reminders, and such.   The calendar apps remind you of friend's birthdays (which FB does automatically anyway) and enable you to send FB greeting cards.   I don't really know what the games give you, but apparently a lot of people spend a ton of time playing them. 

My disinterest in these apps is based on two concerns: 1) using them seems to be another way to suck up hours and hours of time, even more than basic FB use consumes, and 2) virtually all FB apps demand access to my personal data (essentially anything I've told FB, like religious preference, likes, dislikes, you name it).   I share information with friends and family, but I have no interest in sharing much of anything with companies doing business on FB.   The bottom line is that the companies want this information in order to monetize it; to collect data to sell it to someone else who wants to make money with it.

I get bombarded with marketing efforts as it is, via email, snail mail, and those infernal phone calls, so I have no interest in facilitating some marketing types to target their efforts on me even more precisely.   That's why I don't play FB games or use all those apps my friends periodically invite me to join.   FB doesn't offer an option to say "No thanks" with those apps, just  "Goto App" or "Cancel."   

I'm not ignoring anyone, I just would rather not fork over my personal data to some app developer.  Here's more about what sorts of data FB apps collect.

Follow The Money Again

So United Airlines has decided to do away with "family boarding" before regular boarding begins.   This has been used in order to get families with young kids onto a flight before everyone else, so that aisles are less clogged up and families can easily sit together.

Why on earth would United pursue such a change?   There must be money involved.   Oh right, if they ditch family boarding, they can sell families seats together for an extra charge.  Or simply tell families they have to upgrade from Coach.  For more money.

Nice consumer-friendly, customer service, United.   It's getting harder to decide which airline is worse, lately.